Traditional fairytales 'not PC enough'Parents have stopped reading traditional fairytales to their children because they are too scary and not politically correct, according to research.
By Graeme Paton, Education Editor
Published: 2:14PM GMT 05 Jan 2009
Favourites such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Rapunzel are being dropped by some families who fear children are being emotionally damaged.
A third of parents refused to read Little Red Riding Hood because she walks through woods alone and finds her grandmother eaten by a wolf.
One in 10 said Snow White should be re-named because "the dwarf reference is not PC".
Rapunzel was considered "too dark" and Cinderella has been dumped amid fears she is treated like a slave and forced to do all the housework.
The poll of 3,000 British parents - by TheBabyWebsite.com - revealed a quarter of mothers now rejected some classic fairy tales.
Sarah Pilkinton, 36, a mother-of-three from Sevenoaks, Kent, told researchers: "I loved the old fairy stories when I was growing up. I still read my children some of the classics like Sleeping Beauty and Goldilocks, but I must admit I've not read them The Gingerbread Man or Hansel and Gretel.
"They are both a bit scary and I remember having difficulty sleeping after being read those ones when I was little."
Two-thirds of parents said traditional fairytales had stronger morality messages than many modern children's stories.
But many said they were no longer appropriate to soothe youngsters before bed.
Almost 20 per cent of adults said they refused to read Hansel and Gretel because the children were abandoned in a forest - and it may give their own sons and daughters nightmares.
A fifth did not like to read The Gingerbread Man as he gets eaten by a fox.
The most popular book read at bedtime is now The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
The simple tale, which features a greedy caterpillar eating too much food, was written in 1969.
It also emerged 65 per cent of parents preferred to read their children happier tales at bedtime, such as the Mr Men, The Gruffalo and Winnie the Pooh.
Three quarters of mothers and fathers try to avoid stories which might give their children nightmares and half of all parents would not consider reading a single fairy tale to their child until they reached the age of five.
Top bedtime stories of 2008:
1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle (1969)
2. Mr Men, Roger Hargreaves (1971)
3. The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson (1999)
4. Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne (1926)
5. Aliens Love Underpants, Claire Freedman & Ben Cort (2007)
6. Thomas and Friends from The Railway Series, Rev.W.Awdry (1945)
7. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (1908)
8. What a Noisy Pinky Ponk!, Andrew Davenport (2008)
9. Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child (2001)
10. Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Robert Southey (1837)
Top 10 fairy tales we no longer read:
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2. Hansel and Gretel
3. Cinderella
4. Little Red Riding Hood
5. The Gingerbread Man
6. Jack and the Beanstalk
7. Sleeping Beauty
8. Beauty and the Beast
9. Goldilocks and the Three Bears
10. The Emperor's New Clothes
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/4125664/Traditional-fairytales-not-PC-enough-for-parents.html
